Zimbabwe Court Rules on Searches

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - An opposition leader charged Friday that police
seized membership lists and financial records from his party, which had posed
the biggest challenge to President Robert Mugabe since he led the African nation
to independence in 1980.

But hours after authorities searched two offices of the Movement for
Democratic Change, Zimbabwe's High Court declared the actions illegal and
ordered police to return the materials, said party secretary general Welshman
Ncube.

At one office, the police - some with automatic weapons - took checkbooks,
address books and membership lists, and the personal files of party leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, Ncube said.

At the second office north of downtown, police took boxes of files and
computer diskettes, he said.

``This is another attempt to access the database and financial records with a
view to unleashing terror on people assisting MDC materially or financially,''
Ncube said. ``It violates our constitutional rights as a political party.''

Movement for Democratic Change won 57 of 120 elected seats in June
parliamentary elections.

In the run-up to those elections, political violence left at least 31 people
dead. Most of the victims were opposition supporters.

Police refused to comment on the searches.

However, George Charamba, a spokesman in Mugabe's office, told the
state-controlled Herald newspaper the raids were linked to a grenade attack on
Monday. Attackers hurled a grenade into the yard at party headquarters. No one
was hurt and no one claimed responsibility.

Charamba said police needed access to opposition premises and individuals as
part of their investigations.

Britain on Friday protested the searches, calling them a means of
intimidation.

``No justification has been given for these raids,'' said Foreign Office
Minister Peter Hain. ``Britain deplores any action by the Zimbabwean authorities
which intimidates the legitimate parliamentary opposition, or indeed any
citizen.''

On Thursday, police also searched the party's offices, claiming they were
looking for weapons. None were found, Ncube said.

“PEOPLE who
thought we were using land as an election campaign tool now realise they were
wrong.”

These are words attributed to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture
and Resettlement, Dr Joseph Made, published in the Herald of August 30. If
these were indeed Made’s words, then his statement has exploded the myth that
President Mugabe did set out to form a government partly composed of technocrats
after the June election. In time the rest of the citizens will come to realise
that maybe only one, up to a maximum of two, of those ministers can be described
as technocrats.

The rest of the new faces in that cabinet are actually
Zanu PF apparatchiks who were previously deployed in other capacities elsewhere.
It is patently clear that Made is out of his depth at the policy level. He was
correct when, soon after his ministerial appointment, he described himself on
ZTV as a “nuts and bolts man”.

A political heavyweight would have been
preferable at that post, if only because for such a personality, the need to
display excessive political sycophancy would have been somewhat diminished.

Take for instance the previous Minister of Agriculture, Kumbirai Kangai.
Despite all his other failings, Kangai was both a politician and a farmer at
heart and at appropriate occasions, he spoke the language of agriculture.

To date, I personally have not yet heard Made speak the language of
agriculture, let alone agricultu- ral economics, which ought to have been his
core business. Each time he speaks, I hear him doing his best to echo the voice
of the King and trying to excel in Zanu PF racist bigotry.

How can
someone that should be both literate and numerate, and is said to have earned a
PhD in some agricultural science discipline, fail to comprehend that what should
have been done in stages over a 20- year period cannot now be done in three
months?

How can a scholar, a rational person, fail to comprehend that it
is impossible at best, and calamitous at worst, to resettle some 500 000
families, which means approximately three million individual Zimbabweans, that
is one quarter (25%) of the entire country’s population, on 5 - 7 million
hectares of land in a time interval of three months?

How can educated
and rational administrators fail to comprehend or anticipate the dire conse-
quences of subjecting three million Zimbabweans to conditions of existence that
are devoid of every form of infrastructure, namely shelter, potable water,
clinics, roads, shops and schools?

How can an agriculturalist, qualified
at PhD level, fail to realise the folly and madness, in terms of the national
GDP and food security, of transferring millions of hectares of land from
commercial agricultural production to subsistence agriculture?

The
rulers of this country must be warned, in the comfort of their third heaven,
that they are sowing the seeds of their own destruction down here.

Throughout history, it has been demonstrated that people can only take
so much abuse and man- made suffering and no more. In that respect all people, I
mean all races, all nations and all nationalities manifest the same limits of
tolerance.

The sections of our population, Zanu PF followers and
pretenders, that are presently being doled out with large tracts of land, 15 -
35 hectares per family, will have become sorely disappointed people in a year’s
time from today. They could easily turn into the government’s bitterest critics.
For by that time they will be starving and they will be poorer than they are
today. This turn of events is inevitable because it will be impossible for the
new settlers to work the land without the means to do so.

Don’t tell me
that a government that cannot provide panadol pills, detergents and bandages in
its hospitals, and chalk for teachers in schools, can know where to scratch
resources to provide tools, draught power, seeds and fertilisers for 500 000
families spread on five million hectares of territory in the period between now
and November 2000! Made and his masters are about to perform miracles. Let’s see
them perform them.

However, what is telling is that the demagogic and
belligerent policies of the rulers have resulted in the flight of capital from
the country and the reduction of our money, the Zim dollar, into suitcase
currency.

The tourist industry, which prior to the campaign of
state-sponsored lawlessness and confrontational propaganda in the country was
growing in leaps and bounds has collapsed and thousands of workers thrown onto
the streets; the same has happened to horticulture, and industrial and
commercial companies are falling like dominoes.

The overall result is
accelerated poverty and widespread destitution, complemented by high mortality
and high morbidity rates right across our society.

We are now saddled
with a social set-up where a vast majority of the populace have no stake in the
stability of society. Remember the saying that “where there is nothing to lose
there is nothing to fear”. Against this background, I fear that our rulers are
living on a precipice. The whole of our society, all of us, are living on a
precipice.

Just
when MDC staff and officials thought that the disruptions of yesterday's
searches were over after the release of their officials early last
night, the CID descended upon their offices again this morning this time
armed with "police computer experts". They said the experts would go
through the party's computers for information related to the
allegations that the party has arms of war. No formal charge has been
made against the party or its membership.

The police
came with the same amended search warrant which they brought yesterday
afternoon. On top of giving them authority to search all the MDC offices
for grenades, pistols, rifles and teargas, the warrant providesfor
"access to documents and to access computers materials and information."
However MDC lawyers refused them entry on the grounds that the party
madean application to the High Court for the search to be declared
illegal. Until there has been a ruling on the matter the CID can not
continue to ask for access in the MDC offices. Judge Garwe, Vice
President of the High Court, was assigned to hear the case. Justice
Chidyausiku, it appears, assigned the case to Garwe knowing he is out of
the office today. MDC attorneyshave returned to the High Court to
request that another judge be assigned.

Meanwhile the four MDC
officials who were detained briefly late yesterday were released at
about 7 PM. This was after pressure mounted in Parliament for the House
to condemn the harassment of the MDC by police and alsodemand that
police stop acting as an arm of Zanu PF. Speaker after speaker
condemned the continued police harrassment. So touching were their
submissions that the MDC youngest member of Parliament, Tafadzwa
Musekiwa, broke down into tears. Musekiwa's parents were severly
harrassedyesterday as part of the police campaign.

Uniformed policemen in full combat attire remained at all the MDC
offices through out the night , and are still there. MDC youth stood
watch last night outside the offices along with the armed
policemen.

The MDC has started a 'red card' ribbon campaign
against harassment by police officials and the continued breakdown of
law and order across the country. As this is a national issue, the MDC
is appealing to all Zimbabeans to wear red ribbons in solidarity until
law and order is restored.

It is 5am.
Equipped with a Thermos, an apple, my cellphone and a wad of cash, I
drive out on to the streets of Harare in search of diesel for my car.
Following a tip from a trusted friend I go to a nearby service
station and, sure enough, I spy a queue of more than 60 cars, buses and
trucks.Where there's smoke, there's fire and I think I have found a
place that will sell the precious liquid.I position my vehicle
in the queue and settle in for the long wait. As dawn breaks, I take a
stroll and see people sleeping in their vehicles, some drinking tea from
flasks and many others huddled in groups discussing the situation. The
fuel queues that snake throughout Harare are lively centres of political
discussions.

Zimbabwe's racial and class divisions break down as
everyone finds common cause in blaming the government for the fuel
shortage. Black truck drivers, white housewives and Asian shop owners
shake their heads in disgust at the dire straits of the Zimbabwean
economy. One woman blames the war in the Congo. A man says it is
corruption. Everyone agrees that things will not get better until
Robert Mugabe leaves power.

After reaching that conclusion they
get back to the pressing matter of getting diesel. How long is the queue?
How much fuel did the station get yesterday? Will they let us fill up? Or
will they only sell us a quarter of a tank?

Zimbabwe has
been suffering a shortage of petroleum-based fuels since December last
year because President Mugabe's government has run out of the foreign
exchange needed to import adequate supplies. Zimbabweans have watched
with interest as France threatens to grind to a halt because of
the week-long blockade on its petroleum fuels. "The news makes it seem
like they have it bad in France," said the manager of a factory which
makes rubber hoses. "They say businesses cannot make deliveries. Well, we
have had those problems all year. Imagine trying to keep a factory going
when you cannot get regular supplies and you cannot make regular
deliveries. It is a nightmare. But we carry on."

Everyone
in Zimbabwe has been struggling to cope with a drastic fuel shortage for
the entire year. It is estimated Zimbabwe has been operating on less
than 50% of its normal consumption for 10 months. In September
the situation became even more desperate, especially for diesel.
Tankers bringing fuel from Kuwait arrived at the Mozambican port of
Beira, landlocked Zimbabwe's nearest outlet to the sea, but they refused
to offload their cargo because they had not been paid. The state-owned
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe has defaulted on so many payments that
Zimbabwe has lost all international lines of credit and must now pay
cash up front for all deliveries of fuel.

By 7am the sun
is up and the heat of the day begins to rise. Tempers also become heated
when a vehicle tries to wedge in at the front of the queue.People who
slept in their vehicles all night jump out and shout at the driver. He
glumly drives to the back of the queue which is now more
than 150 vehicles.

Police are now patrolling the area
to prevent any violence. The shortage of fuel is so desperate that there
have been shootings and brawls in queues.For a week now, police have
been called out to maintain order.

The queue begins to move and
we all rush back to our cars and trucks. I read the paper and every
few minutes start my car to move forward. Some are so short of fuel they
push their cars along the queue. The sun is now high and scorching
but I don't mind because I am now in sight of the pumps. I can't believe
my luck when I pull up and get a full tank.

It is after 11am when
I drive home. I am tired and hot and the morning is shot, but I am elated
with my score. I have a full tank, but the nagging thought is that the
Zimbabwean economy is running on empty.

A
tough decision"The CFU has to return to the Supreme Court to represent all
farmers affected by the government's decision to acquire compulsorily over 3000
farms. This class action will specifically challenge the power to take land from
an individual without compensation." Momentous words, quietly spoken by the
president of Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union at their annual congress in
Harare last week.

But they are words that will have serious impact. First
and foremost, farmers can expect government to become even more intransigent and
doors that re-opened when the case was last dropped will be slammed in the
union's face once more. That really doesn't matter. Dialogue with government
achieved nothing; the absurdity of farms listed for acquisition continued
unabated and there was no movement of illegal squatters from the
farms.

Dialogue was a farce, orchestrated by ZANU-PF.

More
seriously, farmers can expect an intensification of intimidation. The so-called
war vets will now be encouraged to turn up the heat. Mr Mugabe and his fawning
deputies will smirk; they'll claim they 're unable to control "the people". That
will be a lie, but fortunately the whole world will know it is a lie - because
the world (and Zimbabwe) knows that the "war veterans" are acting on orders from
the highest level.

Still, the expected intensification of violence is the
reason why the CFU's leadership must have found the legal route such a hard
decision to make. Too many people have been murdered already, too many people
have been raped and beaten - and too many have had to flee their homes. Even the
slimmest chance that litigation will bring more rape and murder to the
countryside requires immense thought - and critics should not mistake time taken
in thought for hesitancy or weakness.

So… the decision has been taken and
it is the right decision, backed by unchallengeable moral authority. Yes, there
will be repercussions, sadly even very serious ones. Farmers know this - and
they know they are still on their own in a fight to save themselves, their
workers, their businesses and, in turn, their country. They can (and should)
feel beleaguered and lonely, but there is also a great deal to feel proud about.
History will treat commercial farmers well for taking the decision to fight the
forces of anarchy and destruction - and unless there's a dramatic change of
attitude, history will treat the people who should be farmers' allies with no
small contempt.

But there are still critics out there, still people who
believe that litigation won't be worth the cost. Well, no one knows what the
cost of taking on the might of ZANU-PF will be, but there is now ample proof
that negotiations are bearing no fruit and that the cost of lying low will be
the destruction of commercial agriculture and, with it, the destruction of
Zimbabwe. That means that litigation, whether successful or not, has to be
pursued because if it does nothing more than delay Mr Mugabe's selfish plans,
then it will be worth it.

We hear that among the critics are venerable
old men who've guided agriculture along its bumpy road for the past five
decades. Well, sorry, but they're wrong - this time. Agriculture has come to a
pass and there really is very little to lose, so the caution that comes with age
shouldn't be an overriding factor when it comes to making
decisions.

Besides, these are decisions that affect and will effect
younger generations of farmers, and those generations have, with wisdom and
calculated caution, decided to fight it out. People who've not the stomach for
the impending fight should now bow to the inevitable and allow the overwhelming
majority of farmers who want to take a moral stand get on with it.

But…
there's always a but. The fight ahead is going to be difficult - and the
economic circumstances in Zimbabwe will make it more difficult still, though the
rewards of succeeding remain tantalising and worth literally any effort. That
doesn't mean that farmers should discard strategy, still less that they should
take the law into their own hands. So far commercial agriculture has retained
the moral high ground, thanks largely to subtle and clever strategies. But when
Erik Morris, a Harare advocate, spoke to farmers at their congress, he told them
he wasn't advocating they use force to remove squatters - and then went on to
list cases where the use of force had been condoned by the courts. It was a cop
out, and a rather silly one.

In effect, he seemed to be saying "I don't
suggest you do this, but… all these people did and they got away with
it."

The situation on the farms is far too dangerous to play with.
Shooting at squatters is not an option and here's one certainty for you: if any
farmer starts a shooting war with so-called war veterans, those "heroes" of Mr
Mugabe's struggle to remain in power will be backed up by a hit team assembled
by the shadowy forces working for the president. Shoot at these people and you
won't be paying some legal wonk in the city to defend you, you (or your estate)
will be paying for a box to carry you away in.

ZIMBABWE's new Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement, Dr Joseph Made, set a precedent of sorts when he, and apparently
all invited government officials, boycotted the 57th Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) Congress in Harare last week.

Dr Made was invited to both the
opening ceremony on 6 September and the plenary session at a Harare hotel where
he was expected to address delegates. According to CFU President, Tim Henwood,
the minister did not respond to any of the invitations extended to
him.

However, it is reliably understood that several officials from the
ministry attended the official luncheon at the Harare hotel but left immediately
afterwards, disregarding the afternoon session during which Dr Made was expected
to speak.

Ironically, Dr Made and several other cabinet ministers
recently attended and addressed the predominantly black Indigenous Commercial
Farmers Union Congress and the Zimbabwe Farmers Union Congress a few weeks
earlier.

Efforts to seek comment from Dr Made at the time of going to
press were unsuccessful.

PRODUCTION from Zimbabwe's commercial agriculture
will shrink by 13% this year due to the unfavourable operating environment
charaterised by farm invasions, the "fast track" resettlement programme and the
refusal by banks to extend seasonal loans to farmers due to land seizures by
President's Mugabe's government.

Addressing the official opening of the
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) 57th congress, union President, Mr Tim Henwood
said the drop in production would impact further on the scarce foreign exchange
position. Zimbabwe has been in a foreign exchange crisis for months, which has
led to severe fuel and electricity shortages.

High interest rates and
unfavourable terms of trade due to the previously static exchange rate and
depressed commodity markets were other causes of the decline. Commercial
agriculture runs a book of in excess of $20 billion dollars with banks at an
interest rate of 60%.

Mr Henwood said the country still has to contend
with growing import demand on the back of a severely hampered export
performance. He said in 1998 exports accrued $32,9 billion against imports
costing $45,8 billion, leaving a large trade balance deficit. In 1999 Zimbabwe
exported goods worth $66,3 billion against imports worth $67,1
billion.

Mr Henwood lamented that massive lists had been published of
farms to be acquired for resettlement and 'banks tell us there will be no
finance for affected farmers."

"Just being listed prevents a farmer from
gaining finance. Those listed for compulsory acquisition, which had obtained
season finance, have had their finances cut. Once a farm is listed, its assets
value is effectively destroyed," said Henwood.

The bankers Association of
Zimbabwe president, Mr Greg Brackenridge made it abundantly clear to farmers
that banks would not lend any money to those whose farms were on the acquisition
list as there was no guarantee that they would reap the crops. He said current
economic problems and the land issue would lead to the fall of the country's
GDP.

Based on the statistics made before the government extended the
"fast track" programme to thousands of farms the GDP would fall by 8% this year
and by 12% next year.

Mr Brackenridge called for dialogue in solving the
land issue saying, "The consequences of us failing to resolve this land issue
are ghastly and will exact a heavy toll on every single Zimbabwean in all walks
of life."

"The key to the resolution is the land issue. banks will find
it difficult to provide finance to farmers. Bankers are reluctant to incur
potentially $30 billion dollars in exposure if they have no certainty that
people are going to be able to reap their crops," said Mr
Brackenridge.

Another speaker, Dr Stan Parsons said, " Banks have told it
like it is. We must be prepared to take it like it is."

He said
Zimbabwean farmers were not the only farmers who had encountered problems which
are not of their own making but Zimbabwe's problems were probably of a bigger
magnitude."The economic situation is disastrous but what do we do about it -
there is no fiery Godmother and nobody will come to our rescue."

Henwood
said, "All sectors of the economy are fast realising that they too are unable to
survive alone and are becoming active in the call for return to
sanity.

Already, the manufacturing sector is expected to decline by 10%,
mining by 2%. Foreign and domestic debts have continued to grow with the
domestic debt requiring to be serviced at a rate of $2 billion per week. Foreign
debt shot up to $96 billion and for the first time, Zimbabwe has started
defaulting on foreign debt service, which has resulted in withdrawals of lines
of credits and humanitarian assistance.

Mr Brackenridge warned that
unless Zimbabwe has a plan for a viable economic future there was no chance of
attracting the support of the international community. He said while the economy
has tremendous potential especially its export capacity, the potential could
only be realised, "if we get our house in order and re-engage the international
community."

The banker said 100 000 jobs will be lost and that excludes
jobs on farms.

"This is worse than the great depression of the 1930s," he
said.

"The economy of our country is in ruins and it will take maximum
effort from all sectors of the economy to enable us to reverse the trend and
climb out of the bottomless hole we are in now," said
Henwood.

EXACTLY the sort of confrontation that the Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU), representing Zimbabwe's beleaguered commercial farmers, has been trying
to avoid over the past seven months of anarchy and mayhem on the farms, came to
the fore at its 57th annual congress when the guest speaker, Advocate Erik
Morris, told the farmers that the law would be on their side if they fought back
to protect themselves and their properties.

Mr Morris spoke off the cuff
and, evidently, took most of his audience by surprise when gave a resume of
legal precedents in Zimbabwe as well as neighbouring South Africa in which
farmers and other property owners were acquitted for taking extra-legal measures
resulting in either death or injury to poachers or other criminals who
trespassed on their properties.

The Presidential Powers (Temporary
Measures) Act which the government is using to expropriate the bulk of 3 000
commercial farms for its so called "fast track" resettlement programme was
ultravires and contravenes the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Morris pointed out, and
commercial farmers would be within the law if they used what ever means at their
disposal to defend their property against vandalism and illegal
occupation.

The CFU has been criticized by some of its members for not
taking a firm enough position against government for its failure to halt farm
invasions and restore the rule of law on the farms.

Describing the
current situation in which 4 500 or so commercial farmers find themselves in as
a "total eclipse of the sun," Morris said farmers were entitled by law to expect
the protection of the police. "The police have a statutory duty to provide such
protection and you have a right, as citizens to expect such protection," he
said. Morris said he believed another effective option to goad police into
action would be to sue individual officers exposing them to the discomfiture of
litigation and related costs. "This is likely to have a salutary effect on the
attitude of the police," he said.

Morris was confident the current
situation is a passing phase. The "debacle" on the farms was being engineered by
a small minority imposing its will on the majority, Morris said. But this would
come to pass as the majority had already flexed its muscles through results in
the February referendum and June parliamentary elections.

Warning that
as a result of the current land seizures, chaotic resettlement and anarchy on
the farms, Zimbabwe faced "mass starvation of horrifying proportions", Advocate
Morris said it was up to the commercial farmers to take appropriate contingency
measures to feed the nation, while at the same time taking what ever measures
possible to retain their farms.

He advised the farmers to hold on to the
title deeds of their properties while allowing the legal process to run its full
course. He reminded the farmers that any legal victories they scored would
remain enforceable for at least 30 years.

SPEAKING at the Commercial Farmers' Union 57th
annual congress last week, Mr Tim Henwood, the union's president, said that his
organisation would reinstate legal proceedings to challenge the compulsory
acquisition, without compensation, of farms in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's president,
Mr Robert Mugabe, has said that he will take just over 3000 farms, about 60% of
the total, from commercial farmers as part of his much criticised "fast track"
resettlement programme.

The CFU's court action in the Supreme Court will
be class action on behalf of all affected farmers, Mr Henwood said.

The
union began legal action previously, but withdrew it on legal advice. The
earlier withdrawal drew criticism from farmers and opposition political parties
in Zimbabwe and it is understood that the CFU decided to re-new legal
proceedings at a special council meeting just days before their annual
congress.

Henwood said that it was necessary because negotiations had not
halted the mass listing of farms for acquisition by the State, nor had
negotiation achieved any results with the removal of so-called war
veterans.

However, the CFU court action will not include President Mugabe
as one of the respondents.

"Instead the respondents will be three
ministers comprising the inter-ministerial committee that claims to have been
charged with the duty of carrying out the resettlement exercise by the
President, with the minister of Home Affairs being added as a fourth respondent"
said a CFU statement.

Mr Roy Bennett, a Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) MP, and himself a commercial farmer, praised the decision. "It's sensible
and practical," he said of the decision to go to court. "The only thing we have
on our side is law and order and the rule of law and we have to get back to that
and stick to it."

Bennett, as part of a group called "Farmers with
Conscience", had been a vociferous critic of the earlier withdrawal from legal
action.

THERE are indications that there is good potential
for the future of agriculture in Zimbabwe but there are uncertainties that need
to be clarified, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regional director for
Africa, Mr Paulo Neuhous has said.

Speaking to The Farmer soon after
meeting the CFU officials Mr Neuhous, who is heading the IMF delegation on an
exploratory visit to Zimbabwe, said the meeting was to find out about the
prospects of the new agricultural season and general overview of the
agricultural industry in the country.

"Frankly, there is a lot of
information to digest," he said adding that it had become increasingly clear
there could be a decrease in the production of some crops like
tobacco.

Mr Neuhous also said there were some concerns over the current
land resettlement exercise and that this could affect food security in
Zimbabwe.

CFU director, Mr David Hasluck said they (IMF) were in Zimbabwe
on an exploratory visit.

"We gave them a brief of the existing production
and the future prospects in context of the political and economic situation in
the country," said Mr Hasluck.

He said the CFU brief also focused on the
question of the return to the rule of law, the absence of which is making
prospects for the new season difficult mainly in terms of food security next
year.

"We also discussed the situation pertaining to the land acquisition
programme and how it has evolved to become a political issue."

He said
this in reference to the over 3041 farms that government has started acquiring
under the "fast track" resettlement programme which some people, including
opposition Movement for Democratic Change politicians have variously described
as "fast track to poverty".

Mr Hasluck said, "It appears to us that this
will have disastrous consequences for agriculture and the economy." He warned
that there would be serious social and health implications on the people being
resettled without basic infrastructure.

According to Mr Hasluck, the IMF
had not expressed an official position as regards what was happening in the
country at the moment.

He said, "They are gathering information from all
sectors of the economy" and would come up with a country report when they go
back to their headquarters.

According to Hasluck there was no change in
the IMF's position on land reform programme, which remains that it be a clearly
planned programme that is implemented in a transparent and lawful manner.

Vincent Kahiya ZIMBABWE is set to run out of beef next year as commercial
farmers who own about a quarter of the national herd have embarked on a massive
destocking exercise in reponse to the accelerated land resettlement exercise and
the pressure from skewed economic fundamentals, the Zimbabwe Independent
established this week.

The Cold Storage Company and all smaller
slaughterhouses this week confirmed that they have been fully booked from the
middle of the year to November. They said the exercise was likely to have
serious repercussions for the industry in the form of beef shortages and the
country’s failure to meet the European Union export quota which is a key source
of foreign currency.

Zimbabwe earns at least $2 billion in foreign
currency from beef exports to the EU. Most of the slaughter stock for export is
from the commercial sector as small-scale farmers are not keen to sell their
cattle unless there are droughts.

An official of the Zimbabwe Farmers
Union yesterday said the commercial herd constituted about 27% of the national
herd but there was greater uptake from that sector. The destocking in the
commercial sector, industry sources said, would reverse moves that had been made
to boost the size of the national herd which was depleted by three droughts in
the 1990s. He said cattle from the commercial sector accounted for at least
85% of the beef exported to the EU.

A source at the CSC head office in
Bulawayo on Tuesday said commercial farmers had booked 84 000 beasts for
slaughter until November this year. Hendrik O’Neil who owns O’Neil Meats, a
private abattoir, also confirmed that they were fully booked until the end of
the year. This is the first time that all major abattoirs have been fully booked
in the last five years, sources said.

“The farmers are getting rid of
their cattle and yes, we are full booked until the end of the year,” O’Neil
said.

Sources in the industry said at least a quarter of the commercial
herd would go by the end of the year. They said the worrying aspect was that
some of the farmers were selling breeding stock.

Last year’s statistics
from the veterinary department show that there are about 1,3 million cattle in
the commercial sector and the normal uptake is 20%.

Farmers on the
ground this week said a combination of factors had necessi- tated the restocking
exercise which abattoir owners said would result in beef shortages next year.
The farmers said no financial institution was prepared to lend to farmers whose
properties had been gazetted for compulsory acquisition.

Diversified
farmers who have cattle on their properties need money to support other
activities on the farms and selling cattle, which are currently fetching a good
price, has become an easy option.

The abattoirs are buying the beef at
between $70 and $85 per kg. There is also the problem of uncertainty on the
land which has been caused by occupation of farms by war veterans. Some of the
cattle ranches have been designated and farmers have two options: either to move
their cattle to properties which have not been designated or to destock.

War veterans and villagers who have been occupying farms have been
accused of killing cattle worth million of dollars.

In Umzingwane
district of Matabeleland 100 cattle have been slaughtered by the farm invaders
since the beginning of the year.

Chairman of the Matabeleland chapter of
the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) Ben Zietsman confirmed that there are a lot
of cattle movements but said there was no massive destocking in the country. He
however conceded that there were problems emanating from farm invasions.

“This uncertainty has meant that farmers are selling next year’s cattle
now, also some of their properties,” he said.

He said one farmer had
sold all his cattle after his property was occupied by war veterans.

Godfrey Marawanyika A PROPERLY
planned resettlement programme would cost the government $35 billion and failure
to secure the funding would lead to food shortages, experts in the Lands and
Agriculture ministry revealed this week.

The technocrats, who have put
together a working document on the resettlement programme entitled “Requirements
for Sustain- ed and Increased Agricultural Production in the Resettlement and
Communal Areas of Zimbabwe”, warned of food shortages if the programme was not
properly implemented.

In particular they warn of the consequences of
poorly-equipped settlers being dumped on the land.

“Given the history of
these new settlers, in terms of resources endowment and agricultural skills in
commercial production, it is anticipated that the nation may incur a decline in
agricultural production unless the government intervened in order to cushion
that potential setback, both in the short to long-time horizon,” the document
says.

Sources in the ministry said the report was prese-nted to Minister
of Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement Joseph Made last month.

The
government has already embarked on an accelerated resettlement programme and one
of the major criticisms the plan has attracted is the failure by government to
provide the settlers with basic infrastructure and inputs. Two months ago the
ministry came up with a $1,3 billion budget to get the accelerated scheme off
the ground but more funds are urgently required.

The document prepared
by the minister’s research group in the Agricultural Technical and Extension
Services (Agritex) department highlights both short and long-term problems.

The $35,2 billion budget covers provision of basic infrastructure,
tillage, crop inputs and extension services under the short-term programme,
whilst addressing among other things crop production, livestock production, and
the equipment needed for specialised production in resettlement areas.

Sources at Agritex said the paper they prepared for the minister was
more comprehensive compared to government’s initial plan. Agritex gave the
breakdown of the $35 billion budget as follows: $34 billion for crop packs, $158
million for tillage, $987 million for livestock, $18 million for extension
services, $37 million for farm planning, and $23 million for farmer training.

The document said the budgeted plan would benefit 1,3 million
households. Under the programme the largest portion of resettled land, 1 million
hectares, would be committed to maize production, generating income worth $27,4
billion.

Last week the government approved an addition- al $35 billion
supplementary budget in which the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement obtaining $603 million.

The drafters of the plan have
however cautioned that more manpower was required to ensure proper supervision.

“Similar programmes have failed elsewhere due to lack of human
resources. In Zimbabwe, skilled manpower to train the settled farmers is
available. What is required is the provision of the right amount of resources at
the right time to make this resettlement programme a success,” the experts said.

“By 1999, a total of 76 000 farmers had been resettled on 3,5 million
hectares. Production by resettled farmers has been disappointing with the land
not being fully utilised and yields being much less than projected,” said the
report.

The sources cited the Ringa model scheme which was done in a
proper planning manner which took more than five months to prepare adding that
the beneficiaries were failing to fully utilise the land the families were
allocated.

The report said the provision of tillage to the resettled and
communal areas farmers would have to be provided adding that seasonal and medium
to long-term loans offered at concessionary rates would have to be considered.

“Of major concern to Agritex is staff mobility which has to be addressed
as a matter of urgency,” the report said. The report said most staff and
officers are not motorised adding and the available transport was unreliable

Forward Maisokwadzo/ Dumisani Ndlela AIR Zimbabwe this week failed to pay an $8 million debt to Air BP
which fell due last Thursday, triggering fears that the country’s foreign
currency shortages were intensifying the national airline’s woes.

Air
Zimbabwe is currently battling to raise foreign currency for the procurement of
spare parts for its ailing fleet.

The revelations on Air Zimbabwe’s
debts to Air BP, a supplier of aviation fuel, emerged during an investigation by
the Zimbabwe Independent which also learnt that the beleaguered airline also had
unpaid bills for navigation at London’s Gatwick International Airport, home to
Air Zimbabwe’s flights to and from Britain.

Gatwick is one of seven
British airports owned by the British Airports Authority (BAA).

Air
Zimbabwe customer relations manager Moses Mapanda said the airline had a $4
billion fuel account with Air BP and various other credit facilities with goods
and services suppliers.

“At Gatwick Airport, Air BP provides us with
fuel. Like any other business, we have bills to be paid but Air BP’s account is
current,” said Mapanda.

Air BP is a part of the BP (British Petroleum)
Group, an international oil supplier and distributor.

Air BP is
responsible for the marketing and selling of aviation fuels and lubricants. It
sells more than five billion gallons of fuel at around 1 400 locations in some
87 countries. All Air Zimbabwe’s planes are refuelled by Air BP when they land
at Gatwick.

A spokesman for Air BP International, Wendy Sil-cock, said
they were still doing business with Air Zimbabwe despite the default.

Asked about the aviation fuel supplier’s concerns over the airline’s
failure to pay the outstanding debt, Silcock said:”Its nothing new.We are still
fuelling them,” she said.

She maintained however that Air Zimbabwe had
“always been managing”.

It is understood Air Zimbabwe’s planes are also
re-fuelled by Air BP at other international airports around the world.

Air Zimbabwe sank into trouble earlier this year
on the back of foreign currency shortages that have crippled all industrial
operations in the country.

Although it has been able to make a few
procurements from the little foreign currency it earns from ticket sales outside
the country, the airline has been unable to raise meaningful reserves on the
market for its import requirements.

The failure by the airline to
procure spare parts has particularly dealt a big blow to the airline’s
operations as many of its planes could be grounded if they become unfit for
flights.

Privately, Air Zimbabwe pilots are understood to be complaining
about the safety of the airline’s fleet, although sources told the Independent
that its Boeing planes fly only if they have a certificate of fitness from
Boeing auditors.

Problems facing the national airline will have a
significant effect on its operations and future plans as it gears itself for
privatisation as government, a shareholder in the airline, wants to dispose of
its stake in an effort to reduce its expenditure.

AirZim shelves plan for London/Vic Falls flight

Ivan Vera PLANS by the national
flag-carrier, Air Zimbabwe, to introduce a weekly direct scheduled flight from
London to Victoria Falls using its wide-body, long-haul B767 aircraft in
November will have to be shelved, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt.

Air Zimbabwe earlier this year announced plans to operate a weekly
scheduled direct flight to the resort after a successful trial flight using the
203-seater long-haul aircraft.

In response to an inquiry by the
Independent this week, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) chief
executive Godfrey Manhambara said the authority still had to decide on the Air
Zimbabwe request after the results of the evaluation are out.

“The data
that was captured during the trial flight at Victoria Falls is currently being
evaluated together with other information to help the authority determine the
feasibility of a regular B767 operation into the airport,” said Manhambara.

He said that the evaluation was expected to be completed by December.

In June the information and data that was gathered during the Victoria
Falls B767 aircraft trials was forwarded to Boeing Company in the US for further
analysis.

An airline spokesperson last week confirmed to the Independent
that representatives from CAAZ and Air Zimbabwe sent data to Boeing which would
then use the information in a simulator.

Commenting on Air Zimbabwe’s
desire to commence operations as early as November this year, Manhambara said
that as had been previously advised, the authority would demand strict safety
precautions before it could sanction the operation of the flight.

Rashweat Mukundu ZIMBABWE’S
corruption rating internationally has taken a dive from position 45 last year to
65 out of 90 countries surveyed, Transparency International has said.

The most corrupt country was Nigeria, with the least being Finland.
Presenting the latest Transparency International Corruption perception index
survey, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Chapter, Dr John Makumbe, said the
rating was depressing as it affected the already tattered image of the country.

“We take the view that perceptions do matter because they are pertinent
to the image of the nation and to the actions of potential investors in our
country,” said Makumbe.

Botswana, standing at position 26
internationally, is rated the least corrupt country in the region. Zimbabwe’s
downward trend is attributable to the continued lawlessness that is condoned by
the government said Maku-mbe.

“Corruption thrives whenever there is a
general collapse of the rule of law in any society,” he said.

Zimbabwe
has been caught up in a wave of farm invasions by veterans of the liberation war
and Zanu PF supporters. The political violence that preceded the June
parliamentary election also contributed to the tarnished image of the country.

In light of this development, Transparency Inter- national Zimbabwe
would be lobbying parliament to set up a parliamentary ad-hoc committee to
investigate corruption in the country, Makumbe said.

He said they were
against Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 16 which intended to bring
into existence a government-sponsored anti-cor- ruption body because it was not
an autonomous body but fell under the Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs.

“Parliament must insist that the Anti-Corruption
Commission be adequately funded, through parliament, and that it be autonomous
and adequately empowered to investigate corruption, prosecute alleged culprits,
and recover all ill-gotten wealth from convicted people,” said Makumbe.

Transparency International Zimbabwe also wants parliament to appoint a
director of prosecutions to deal specifically with corruption cases and liaise
with the courts directly because dockets have often disappeared from the
Attorney-General’s office.

“The economy of Zimbabwe is too small hence
the high level of corruption as companies jostle for the few contracts
available. In the end it is the common man who suffers as we are seeing with the
fuel problems,” Makumbe said.

The fuel crisis in Zimbabwe is largely
blamed on corruption at the oil parastatal, National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
where $9 billion was allegedly embezzled.

On why TIZ walked out of the
National Economic Consultative Forum task-force on corruption, Makumbe said that
some individuals who led the body were involved in corruption themselves,
especially through vote-buying by promising cheap loans to the electorate.

Makumbe said that he “personally” supported the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill,
which sought to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe if it continued disregarding the
rule of law.

“The Bill is intended to bring Zimbabwe to the principles
of democracy and level the playing

field,” said Makumbe. He said that
land reform was necessary but it could not be done at the expense of law, order,
justice and peace.

“Offering money to political parties might be seen as
political interference but one must note that even Zanu PF receives money from
outside and also uses government resources in electioneering,” he said.